Pakatan, beware!

While the main focus for Pakatan Rakyat now is to be a good and strong opposition by speaking out against the government’s mismanagement, Pakatan must also go back to the drawing board and learn from history not to repeat the blunders they made in the 13th general election and the biggest blunder was none other than deciding the candidates list at the 11th hour.

In January this year, everyone had already known that GE13 would be held within the next few months. Therefore by end of February, the list of candidates should have been finalised instead of waiting for finalisation to be done only after Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had dissolved Parliament.

The way Pakatan decided upon the candidates list was akin to recruiting soldiers only after the war has been declared. Pakatan should have an army ready beforehand, all set for the war.

As of now, the next general election is still a long way off and this gives Pakatan time to lay the groundwork for the future polls.

However recently for the past few weeks, a local English daily has highlighted the issue of factionalism within DAP. While DAP leaders may not believe everything churned out by this daily, it still pays to look at this issue with grave concern as factionalism also played a role in the candidates list prior to GE13.

This means that factionalism must be stamped out before it damages the party from within.

For GE14, in regard to Penang and Perak, DAP should field Malay candidates for their state seats. Long-serving Malays should be given a chance to prove that they can also serve the rakyat well and DAP should end these Malay grouses by putting more Malays in the race.

Seats for Malay candidates must be identified in ample time so as to allow them to do the groundwork before the polls.

In addition to that, candidates who had lost in the previous general election should be notified early whether they can still contest in the same seat. Otherwise the new candidate must be sent there early enough to enable him or her to do the groundwork before polling day comes.

Interviews with the local folks revealed that they dislike not knowing who is the candidate right up till the 11th hour.

There should not be what can be labelled as certain ‘cliques’ or factions trying to influence the choice of candidates.

For DAP two things that must be carried out prior to GE14 is to give more opportunities to Malay candidates and to choose the candidates early.

Anwar must be forceful

Next we come to PKR. Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has to be more forceful in taking charge and taking the lead.

Although there are factions in PKR too as there are in every political party, this matter too must be firmly dealt with. Those who do not have the party’s interest at heart must be cast aside. No looking after self-interest.

Again, similar to DAP , there should not be any policy of selecting candidates based on which faction they belong. Factions are destructive – they destroy the party from within. If the party is full of cliques, the party will soon implode. A house divided upon itself will soon fall.

And last of all, there is PAS. Their grassroots workers are good and well-organised. But according to the latest insider information, there is a group in PAS who is inclined to take PAS out of Pakatan.

Factions also exist in PAS. If this group succeeds in their unwise move, they will not only destroy Pakatan, they will also succeed in destroying PAS itself.

The only job for PAS to do now is to convince the Malays that the Chinese are disinterested in power-grabbing.

All in all, the three parties in Pakatan must work together well. There must be give-and-take in the candidates list. The folks in the small towns need to be convinced that Pakatan is the better alternative but when they see Pakatan having disputes or struggling with the candidates list, they will have doubts in Pakatan’s ability to govern well.

Of course, the lack of internet facilities in small towns make the problem worst for Pakatan because for the small town folks, seeing is believing.

Therefore when these folks see Pakatan being indecisive on the candidates list, they will think that Pakatan is not ready to govern.

Overall it can be said that Pakatan would have won more seats if the candidates had been decided early. It must be noted that BN had ironed out their candidate problems much earlier than Pakatan.

Disputes between Pakatan’s component parties had led to BN winning three state seats (Damak, Semenyih and Kota Damansara) wherein the votes polled by the two Pakatan candidates added together could have easily defeated the BN candidate.

The Sabah problem

In Sabah too, the dispute over candidates was not solved till the11th hour.

A friend in Sabah in June last year had already told this columnist, “Pakatan will not be ready for GE13 but for GE14, maybe, lah.”

At the end of the day, Pakatan must prepare for GE14 now. Learn from previous mistakes and start early by laying the groundwork.

The leaders of the three parties in Pakatan must put an end to factionalism within their own parties. All unhappy and disputing parties must be called to the negotiating table to iron out differences for how can Pakatan battle the external enemy when internally there is conflict and strife?

And Pakatan leaders must take note of grassroots reports instead of only listening to their strategists as the grassroots reports are more accurate and up-todate.

Another issue of vital importance for Pakatan leaders to take note of is the unity in Umno – it is certain that Umno is well-prepared for GE14. Therefore Pakatan, beware!